Hockey Night in Bayville
by Matt Briddell
Summary: Last chapter is up, with an ending that's sure to offend any hardcore Jean fan (and delight everyone else!) Hey, anybody that stuck up deserves it! Hockey season is underway, so I decided to write humor fic about the X-Men playing my favorite sport.
1. Faceoff

Disclaimer: Bobby froze the disclaimer saying that I do not own the X-Men or any of the teams in the NHL, but I do happen to own the one and only Xavier Cup.  
  
Bobby and Ray sat in the den of the Xavier institute on a chilly December afternoon. They were both watching Bobby's favorite sport: ice hockey. The New York Rangers were playing one of their old rivals, the Boston Bruins, in Madison Square Garden. Unlike Bobby, Ray was a newcomer to the sport, but he liked what he was seeing. He especially liked the constant action and the hard-hitting that the players explained. It had taken some explaining from Bobby for him to fully understand the rules and nuances of the game, but he had developed a fair grasp of what was going on.  
  
They both watched the action on the TV as a play unfolded. One of the Rangers deftly avoided a check from a Boston defender, and then fired a slap shot at the Boston goalie Bobby and Ray both cheered as the puck flew over the goalie's outstretched glove and bounced off the back of the net.  
  
"What're you guys watching?" they heard a small voice ask behind them. They turned around to see Jamie gazing at the TV.  
  
"Hockey. Wanna watch with us?" Bobby invited.  
  
"Sure!" Jamie said, excited that he was actually being asked to be with his fellow X-Men for once. He sat down at the foot of the couch and quickly got caught up in the game. He winced as a Ranger collided with a Boston player and the two both crashed to the ice. As the two men got up, the Boston player took a swing at the Ranger, and soon both men were trading punches. Bobby and Ray cheered while Jamie laughed hysterically as the two men swung wildly at each other, hampered by their padding.  
  
"Hey, cool! There's a fight on TV!" they heard, and turned around to see Roberto and Sam standing behind the couch.  
  
"It's not a fight," Ray explained. "It's a hockey game,"  
  
"Can we watch?" asked Sam.  
  
"Sure, grab a seat," said Bobby.  
  
"What's hockey?" asked Roberto, unfamiliar with the game.  
  
"It's a sport. Think of it like soccer, but with skates," explained Bobby in a way that the Brazilian boy could understand.  
  
"Ah!" Roberto said as his eyes lit up. Soccer was fun, but this should really be something to see.  
  
The game continued with the mutants cheering along with the crowd on TV. The noise attracted Rahne, Amara, and Jubilee who had been up in their room talking about boys. Surprisingly to Bobby, they joined in in watching and were getting into it as much as the other mutants were.  
  
Just as the Rangers were setting up for a power play, the channel changed, to mass protest. The mutants turned around to see Jean and Kitty standing behind them. Not being able to get to the remote, Jean had simply used her powers to change the channel to a fashion show that was on. "Sorry, fashion show's on!" she said. "Why don't you kids go find something else to do,"  
  
"We're not kids!" said Jamie.  
  
"Like, speak for yourself!" said Kitty derisively.  
  
"Besides, who wants to watch a bunch of people skating around on ice anyways?" asked Jean.  
  
"WE DO!!!" came the massive reply.  
  
"Like, grow up!" said Kitty. "Hockey is so boring!"  
  
"Like your fashion show is any better!" Bobby retorted.  
  
All the commotion was starting to attract the other X-Men. Soon, Scott, Kurt, Evan and Rogue had joined in the argument. Just when it seemed when a real-life hockey fight was about to break out, Beast walked into the room.  
  
"People, calm down! Now what's all the arguing about?" he asked. He recoiled as his fur was blown back by the cacophonous wave of sound that carried 15 simultaneous protests.  
  
"Wait! One at a time!" he pleaded desperately.  
  
"We were watching the hockey game, and Jean changed the channel and told us to go find something else to do!" Bobby said.  
  
"Oh, who cares about hockey when there much more important things on?" Kitty asked.  
  
"Like some silly dress-up show?" asked Roberto.  
  
"Hey! It's not silly! It's fashion!" Kitty shot back.  
  
"Alright!" said Beast. "I have an idea that should settle this, as well as serve as a good training session,"  
  
"What's that?" they all asked.  
  
"You'll see in a few moments. Bobby, can I borrow you for a minute?"  
  
"Sure," said Bobby, following the blue-furred mutant outside.  
  
Outside, Beast told Bobby what he had in mind. Bobby grinned when he heard what Beast had suggested. "This is gonna be great!" he said, and stretched out his hand. A beam of ice shot from his fingertips and began to spread across the ground. Soon, there was a large patch of ice on the ground. Beast hauled up some equipment from the training rooms, and soon they had assembled a makeshift hockey rink in the courtyard. After setting everything up, Beast walked back inside.  
  
"Alright, everybody, today's session is ready to go. If you'll follow me back outside," he said, and led the mutants back outside. In the courtyard, they saw Bobby standing next to the rink in full hockey gear. "Who wants to step into my world?" he asked. 


	2. Power Play

After the initial shock of seeing a hockey rink set up in the middle of their front lawn, the mutants listened as Beast explained the rules for the "exercise". Because of the cloud cover, they wouldn't have to worry about the rink melting. The game would be played just like a normal game of hockey, with all the rules of the game applying. In addition, the mutants would be allowed to use their powers, but not to attack their fellow players or create situations that obviously affected the outcome of the game.  
  
"This should force some of you to come up with new plans of actions, as your powers won't be of much use to you. I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Now, everybody suit up!"  
  
As the mutants got dressed and divided into their teams of older vs. younger mutants, Bobby came up to Jean. She snorted at him as he approached. "You and your stupid hockey!" she said. "I'm missing the fashion show because of you!"  
  
"Not my fault," said Bobby. "Hey, how about we make this more than an exercise?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I've got a little proposition for you," said Bobby. Whichever team loses buys the winners tickets to the next Rangers game in the city,"  
  
Jean looked down at Bobby. Did he actually think he could beat HER? "Well, what happens when we win and we don't want to go see a hockey game? What if we want to do something else instead?"  
  
"IF you win," Bobby said. "I suppose you could pick out something to go to by yourself, even if it is some dumb fashion show,"  
  
"Deal!" Jean said. They shook hands, and went to inform their respective teammates about the newly raised stakes.  
  
Jean joined her team's huddle as they were talking strategy. "Ok," she said. "We HAVE to win this game," she said as she explained the bet she had just made.  
  
"We have to do WHAT?" asked Kitty when she heard what Jean had done.  
  
"Relax, it'll be ok," said Jean. "Just don't blow them off. After all, I have my winning streak to worry about," she said, referring to her soccer team's record. Jean had never lost a soccer game in her life, and she expected that streak to continue despite the different playing surface.  
  
"Honestly, Ms. Perfect. You and your big head got us into this," Rogue sighed, rolling her eyes.  
  
"What'd you say?" Jean asked angrily.  
  
"You heard me. Wanna do something about it?" Rogue challenged.  
  
Scott quickly stepped in between them. "Hey, break it up! We've got a game to win. Besides, if the little X-men win this, it won't look good for any of us,"  
  
He proceeded to set up the team. He and Rogue would be on defense while Jean, Kitty, and Kurt would play the wings and Evan would defend the goal. Growing up in Germany, Kurt had been a natural skater, and he would be their go-to mutant on the attack along with Jean and Kitty, who had been chosen mainly for her speed. Scott was counting on Evan's powers to help keep the younger mutants from scoring on them.  
  
On the other bench, Bobby was setting up his team. Since they had three extra players, they'd have to rotate shifts. He chose Jubilee, Ray and Amara for offense, and Sam and Ray for defense, while taking it upon himself to mind the net on his side of the ice. His announcement of the bet had met with a much more positive reaction than Jean's had, and his team stepped out onto the ice fired up and ready to play.  
  
Amara and Kitty lined up at center ice for the face-off. Beast skated out and dropped the puck, and the action was on. Kitty won the face-off and passed the puck ahead to Jean. Jean and Kurt skated up ice, and Ray and Sam came up to challenge them. Before Ray could put a hit on Jean, she fired the puck towards the goal. Bobby saw it coming and moved to block it, but Kurt teleported in front of him, caught the puck with his stick, and shot it into the other corner for a quick goal. The older mutants celebrated around the net while Bobby sighed as he realized that he might be in for more than he bargained for.  
  
There was another face-off, this one won by Roberto. He took the puck and skated into the older mutants' zone. The younger mutants moved the puck around, keeping it away from Scott and Rogue who were trying to trap them against the walls of the rink. Roberto got the puck and passed it to Jubilee, who launched a shot on goal. At the last second, Evan extended a wall of spikes from his body that blocked the entire net. The puck bounced harmlessly off the spikes and landed on the ice. Beast blew his whistle as the younger mutants protested.  
  
"He can't do that!" said Amara.  
  
"I'll allow it," said Beast. "You have the means at your disposal to counteract Evan's powers, you know,"  
  
"Right," said Ray. "Hey Bobby, let me play offense, I've got an idea,"  
  
Bobby agreed and had Roberto and Ray switch places. On their next possession, Ray got the puck and skated hard up the ice. As he headed for the goal, he suddenly passed the puck off to Amara, who was skating behind him. She shot, and Evan created another wall of spikes. However, Ray shot a bolt of energy at Evan. It hit the spike wall and shattered it, sending small fragments of bone flying all over the place and leaving Evan so shocked that he didn't even realize that the puck had gone past his head until the goal siren went off behind him. Now it was the younger mutants' turn to celebrate as Jean glowered. So much for plan A.  
  
Now Bobby called for his reserves to come in. Rahne eagerly stepped out onto the ice, but she fell down after just two strides, unable to keep her balance. She tried unsuccessfully to get up and had to be helped up by Roberto. "What are we going to do?" asked Roberto as Rahne began to cry. "She can't skate!"  
  
"Don't cry, Rahne," Bobby said encouragingly. "Do this," He whispered a plan in her ear, and her tears quickly gave way to peals of laughter.  
  
As play resumed, Amara passed the puck over to Rahne, who was holding onto the rink wall. As the puck came towards her, she morphed into a dog and picked it up in her mouth. Her paws gave her excellent traction as she scampered down the ice. Rogue saw her coming and tried to cut her off, but Rahne simply ran between her legs, knocking Rogue off her feet. She dropped the puck in front of the goal and used her tail to swat it past Evan's glove to give the younger mutants a 2-1 lead. She morphed back into her human form and joined her teammates in celebrating, barely able to keep on her feet. Beast blew the whistle signaling the end of the first period, and both teams headed to their respective benches to discuss their strategy for the next 20 minutes of play. 


	3. Odd Man Rush

*It's interesting that some of the comments I've gotten so far match up perfectly with the events of this chapter, even though I wrote it before any of them were posted. I guess great minds really DO think alike (  
  
  
  
At the young mutants' bench, Bobby offered encouragement to his teammates. "We're doing great so far, we just need to keep it up!" On the older side of the ice, spirits were not quite as high. Scott had decided to change goalies and get Evan in a position where his own skating talents could be used.  
  
Scott turned to Kurt. "Kurt, can you play goal for us?" he asked.  
  
"You bet!" Kurt replied eagerly. "I'll be a fuzzy brick wall!"  
  
Jean tried to encourage her teammates as well, but her efforts met with little success. Rogue in particular was unimpressed; she hadn't wanted to get dragged into defending Jean's precious honor. Despite her animosity toward Jean, however, she was starting to enjoy the game a bit. The mutants laced up their skates and headed back out onto the ice.  
  
Play began in the second period, and the older mutants showed an aggression that they had been lacking earlier. They were skating faster and hitting harder as well. Scott in particular began playing very stingy defense, forcing turnovers and throwing the occasional check as well. Ray and Sam had a hard time stopping Evan from skating past them, and the speedy mutant was able to take several shots on goal. Bobby made save after save in net, at times having to dive for the puck or sprawl flat out to keep it from getting past. Meanwhile, Kurt was a blue lightning bolt, stopping every puck that came his way, and showed no signs that he was weighed down by the heavy goalie's pads.  
  
Both teams went back and forth without scoring for several minutes, although the older mutants clearly had the momentum. Evan got a pass from Jean and took off down the ice, out-skating both defenders and making a beeline for the goal. Desperate to keep Evan from scoring on the breakaway, Sam used his powers, launching himself across the rink and crashing into Evan. Beast blew his whistle as both mutants went flying across the ice, and sent Sam to the penalty for improperly using his powers. The older mutants had a power play, and after a few shots, Jean put the puck past Bobby to tie the game. She pumped her fist as her teammates celebrated beside her.  
  
Jamie now came in off the bench for the younger mutants. Roberto shot him a pass, but as he skated into the older mutants' zone, Scott accidentally tripped him. Jamie fell to the ice, the impact creating several copies of him. Beast blew his whistle and called Scott for the penalty. Scott tried to protest, claiming that the younger mutants had too many players on the ice with the addition of the new Jamies, but Beast was hearing none of it and directed Scott towards the penalty box. This gave Bobby an idea. He quickly gathered his teammates and revealed his newest strategy. "Jamie, we're counting on you," he said. Jamie gulped nervously. "I hope this works," he said, and skated over to his position.  
  
The younger mutants won the ensuing face-off, and Ray cleared the puck ahead. Amara passed the puck ahead to Jamie, and then all of the younger mutants quickly skated over to their bench and got off the ice as Jamie skated into enemy territory alone. As soon as they were off the ice, Jamie created several copies of himself. Now the younger mutants' team consisted of Bobby in goal and a line of Jamies. The Jamies passed the puck back and forth among each other, playing keep away from their opponents. Then, they formed up in a wedge and pushed down the ice, the lead Jamies protecting the one in the rear with the puck. The flying V cleared the way for Jamie to shoot, and the puck flew past Kurt, who narrowly missed it. The Jamies celebrated before merging back together, and his teammates rejoined him on the ice.  
  
Jean was angry at being behind again, although she was impressed at how Bobby was managing his team. Still, that didn't change the fact that she was in the unfamiliar position of losing.  
  
Upstairs in the mansion, meanwhile, Logan was watching the game from the Institute's balcony. Logan was fully engrossed in the game. As a Canadian, he loved hockey and was pleased to see the kids excelling at "his" sport. Xavier joined him as he wheeled out onto the balcony.  
  
"Logan, why are the students skating around on a patch of ice in the front yard?" Xavier asked.  
  
"They're just having a little hockey match, Chuck," Logan said. "Stick around and watch, you'll like it,"  
  
Xavier settled in and watched all of the young mutants skating around. "Is Beast letting them use their powers?" he asked.  
  
"Yep," said Logan.  
  
Xavier glanced at him nervously. "Perhaps we should relocate to a safer viewing location," he said, recalling how the damage caused by Beast's previous efforts to combine sports and mutant powers. "Preferably someplace sunny and hot,"  
  
Logan laughed and continued to watch the game.  
  
Down on the ice, Rahne was beginning to get more comfortable skating around in her human form. She caught a pass from Jubilee and took a shot, but Kurt stopped the puck by reaching out with his tail and using the spaded appendage as a second stick. "Looks like you're not the only one who can put their tail to good use," Kurt grinned tauntingly, and play continued.  
  
The older mutants' aggression carried through the rest of the period, and by the time it was over they had scored two more goals to take a 4-3 lead. Jean grinned at Bobby as they skated past each other towards their benches. "You know Bobby, I can't WAIT to head down to the mall after this game. I've got a BIG shopping spree all planned out," she taunted. Bobby groaned and headed to his bench. If he and the rest of the younger X-men didn't want to spend the rest of their lives in perpetual debt, they'd have to turn things around, and fast. 


	4. Sudden Death

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the X-Men or any NHL franchises. The Xavier Cup is still safely stored in my own brain, though. Ending probably merits at least a PG rating.  
  
And now our exciting conclusion. Hopefully my ending won't offend any hardcore Jean fans. Hey, I couldn't resist! : -D  
  
Sitting on the bench during the intermission, Bobby could sense his young team starting to wear out. He couldn't blame them; the older mutants had given them everything they could handle in the last 20 minutes. He was starting to get tired from diving all over the place to stop shots, and Ray and Sam had had no luck trying to stop Evan on offense. Everybody could sense that they had their backs to the wall.  
  
"What are we gonna do?" asked Amara. "They're kicking our butts!"  
  
"We just can't stop Evan!" said Sam dejectedly.  
  
Bobby held his hands up, trying to restore order. "Look guys," he said. "I know we're struggling, but we can't give up yet! If we lose, Jean will never let us forget about it,"  
  
Everybody on the bench shuddered at the prospect of her highness, Queen Jean Grey lording the victory over them all.  
  
"Our problem is that aside from Rahne and Jamie, we really haven't been able to use our powers much," said Bobby. "But now we're gonna change that. Roberto, do you think you can take goal for this period?"  
  
"I've never played goalie before," said Roberto. "What'll happen when Evan starts shooting?"  
  
"If I have anything to say about it, he won't get the chance," said Bobby. He explained that he was going to act as a utility skater and play both offense AND defense. Now that he was out of the net, he'd be able to put his powers to use in his natural environment.  
  
"I thought Jamie was the only one who could be in two places at once," said Jubilee.  
  
"Trust me, I'll make it work," Bobby said. Somehow, he thought to himself.  
  
"We're also going to reverse our lines," he continued. "Last period, we barely got any kind of offensive pressure because we were too busy trying to stop Evan. This period, we're gonna send in our big men and make THEM play defense. And there's one person in particular that we're really going to stick it to," he finished, pointing at Jean across the rink. "You're all fed up with her acting like a queen around us all the time, right?"  
  
"YEAH!" came the resounding response.  
  
"Well, let's go out and show her we mean business!" he said, very worked up.  
  
The young X-Men all cheered, and joined gloves in unity before heading back out onto the ice.  
  
The older mutants lined up at center ice for the face-off across from their younger counterparts. Jean caught a very strong mental burst from Bobby. She glanced at him to see a very intense look on his face, his icy eyes staring daggers at her. Jean was determined not to be intimidated and shot back a mental "bring it on," but inside she felt just a small amount of nervousness about Bobby coming out of the net.  
  
The puck dropped and the 3rd period was on. Sam won the face-off and passed it to Ray who took it into the older mutants' zone. Rogue tried to check Ray against the boards but Ray passed off to Bobby and moved out of the way, and Rogue slammed up against the wall by herself.  
  
Bobby had been jockeying with Scott for position on the ice. He pushed off against the visored mutant, driving him back a bit and getting open for the puck to come to him. He turned towards the goal. Finding himself open, he wound up for a shot, but he felt something reach out and grab his stick. He looked over his shoulder to see Jean pointing at him, using her powers to freeze his stick. She laughed as Rogue skated past and took the puck away from him. Bobby growled and skated quickly back across the ice.  
  
Jean chuckled at her own cleverness. Why hadn't she tried that sooner, she thought. She took the puck and skated past Jubilee. As she lined up to shoot Amara shot a ball of fire at her. The fireball hit Jean's stick, reducing it to cinders in seconds. "Hey!" Jean shouted. "That's illegal!"  
  
Beast simply shrugged his shoulders. "Don't look at me," he said. "Besides, all she did was burn up your stick. We have plenty more to go around,"  
  
Jean scowled and quickly skated over to get an extra stick. Amara laughed mockingly at her. "I'm the only queen around here," she said.  
  
Jean ignored the younger girl's fantasy comment and got back into the game.  
  
Bobby skated up to Amara. "Great going! Next time she comes up here." he whispered into her ear, and Amara began laughing devilishly. Bobby switched with Jubilee, putting her on the offensive line with Ray and Sam and waited for Jean to come into his zone again.  
  
Jean took the puck from Kitty, determined not to let the younger mutants show her up again. As she crossed into the younger mutants' zone, Amara let loose with another fireball. Instead of hitting Jean, though, this one impacted the ice and melted through it. Jean came to a hard stop, and her skates actually landed inside the tiny hole that Amara had made. Before she could step out of it, Bobby shot a blast of ice at Jean's feet, freezing her skates to the rink.  
  
Everybody on the rink laughed as Jean struggled to free herself. Even Logan and Xavier, watching up on the balcony, were amused.  
  
"Bobby!" Jean shouted angrily.  
  
"What's wrong, Jean?" asked Amara derisively. "Step in something?"  
  
At this point, Beast stepped in. "Sorry, Bobby, as funny as that is, I have to call that a penalty,"  
  
"Hey, I was just trying to fix the hole in the ice," Bobby said gamely. "It's not my fault Jean stepped in it!" Before skating off the ice to serve his penalty, he gathered his team in. "Ok, they're gonna be looking for Evan now. Don't be afraid to use your powers to stop him, and don't be afraid to get creative,"  
  
Jean managed to extricate herself, and the older mutants took the power play. Surprisingly, Kitty led the charge into the younger mutants' territory. She deftly skated around Amara and shot at Roberto, who threw his arms up and screamed as the puck sailed right at him. He felt a thud and looked down at his glove to see the puck resting there.  
  
"I stopped it!" he shouted. "Hey, that wasn't so bad after all. Ok, bring it on!" he yelled out daringly.  
  
For the next two minutes, Roberto proved to be just as adept in goal as Bobby had been, stopping every shot that came his way. Meanwhile, Ray and Sam had moved back to defense and were stifling the older mutants' attack. They took turns covering Jean, playing very close to her. Jean was not used to this sort of physical treatment. She got the puck, but Ray checked her hard against the boards, stunning her for a second. Ray passed the puck back up the ice to Bobby, who took off, flanked by Jubilee and Amara.  
  
Jubilee and Amara had taken Bobby's advice about using their powers creatively. As Bobby skated closer to the goal, Amara shot a fireball at the ice in front of Kurt, melting it and sending up a cloud of steam. At the same time, Jubilee unleashed a barrage of fireworks. Bobby lost sight of the goal for a moment, but quickly found a target and shot. Between the steam and the flashing lights, Kurt never saw the puck whiz by him. Bobby quickly repaired the ice and rushed off to join his teammates in celebrating.  
  
Jean was getting concerned. The game was now tied again and there were less than 10 minutes left. She took the next face-off herself, determined to even up the score again. She saw Bobby scoop up the puck and start moving up the ice. She moved to stop him and checked him hard into the boards, her stick striking Bobby's chest. Bobby went down in a heap, and Beast blew the whistle.  
  
"Jean, that's cross-checking. 2 minutes," he said sternly, gesturing at the penalty box.  
  
Jean skated off the ice angrily, unable to believe that she had gotten a penalty. From the box, she watched as the younger mutants again went on the power play. She watched in agony as Amara and Jubilee again teamed up to blind Kurt, but somehow the furry mutant was able to stop Sam's shot. Jean had a glimmer of hope, but it faded as Jubilee shot the rebounding puck off of Scott's skate and into the goal.  
  
Jean looked up at the clock worriedly. The game was now tied, and there were just 2 minutes to left to play. For the first time in her life, defeat was staring her in the face. She skated up to Evan. "Evan, we need to score quick," she said desperately.  
  
"Don't worry, Jean, I got 'ya covered," said Evan, determined not to let Bobby beat him. "Just get me the puck and stand back,"  
  
The older mutants won the ensuing face-off, and Jean quickly passed up to Evan. Evan got past Sam on defense and pressed on. Bobby was in the defensive zone now and interposed himself directly between Evan and the goal. As Evan skated towards him, Bobby simply moved out of the way.  
  
Evan couldn't figure out why Bobby had just moved out of his way. At the last second, he realized why as he saw a wall of ice standing where Bobby had been. He twisted to avoid colliding with it but at the same time lost control of the puck. Bobby got it and quickly passed it ahead to Ray. "Shoot it low!" Bobby called as he skated in behind Ray.  
  
Ray pressed into the older mutants' zone as the clock hit 10 seconds to play. He passed to Sam to keep Scott from checking him, and then got the puck back. He fired a shot flat against the ice, just as Bobby had instructed, as the clock hit zero. Kurt saw the puck coming and moved to block it. Before he could stop the puck, though, Bobby used his powers again. He created a small ice ramp right in front of the puck. The puck shot up the ramp and went over Kurt's shoulder.  
  
The younger mutants mobbed Ray and Bobby in celebration. But their party was interrupted by Beast. "Bobby, I can't give you that goal. That was a deliberate use of your powers. The score is still tied, and I'm awarding the older mutants a penalty shot. This shot will be for the game,"  
  
The air went out of the younger mutants, and now it was the older mutants who celebrated at still being in the game. Scott called the older mutants together. "Ok, we've done all we can as a team. Now it's up to one person. Who wants the shot?"  
  
"I do!" said Jean. "We have to win this game, and I'm the one who can get it done,"  
  
Both Evan and Kurt looked at her upset. She wasn't the ONLY good skater on this team. But Scott agreed and Jean skated out to take the shot.  
  
When Bobby saw that Jean was going to take the penalty shot, he quickly asked for time out. He skated up to Roberto. "Roberto, you've done a great job this period, but let me take this one. Jean and I started this, and we're going to finish it," Roberto agreed and handed over his padding and stick to Bobby. A few minutes later, Bobby was again wearing the goalie's pads and got ready for Jean.  
  
Jean saw Bobby take over in the net. Perfect, she thought. Who better to beat than him? I'll show him just how dumb hockey really is! They locked eyes for a moment, and Jean took off with the puck.  
  
Bobby saw Jean skating in on him. She started to go to his left, but then moved back to the right. Bobby moved with her, expecting her to come back to the left again. At the last second, she moved back left and shot the puck in high. Bobby moved to block it, but wasn't fast enough. He watched in agony as the puck sailed past his outstretched glove.  
  
CLANG!!! Went the puck as it bounced off the goalpost and ricocheted harmlessly away. Everybody was in silent amazement for a second as the reality sank in, and then Bobby was swarmed under by his teammates as they piled on top of him in celebration. Meanwhile, Jean was in shock. She had missed! She had lost! She stood by slack-jawed, unable to believe what had just happened.  
  
"Well, it looks like the first ever Xavier Cup ends in a draw," said Beast.  
  
The mutants were joined in celebration by Logan and Xavier, who had come down from the balcony. Logan shook Bobby's hand. "Way to pull your team together, kid,"  
  
Xavier, who was very relieved that the mansion was still in one piece, also offered his congratulations to Bobby for his excellent leadership.  
  
Roberto was smiling from ear to ear at having won, but his smile vanished as a ray of sunlight hit his face. He looked up to see the sun emerging from behind the clouds. "Oh no! Guys, I'm sorry about this!" he said before bursting into flame.  
  
The rink melted with a woosh of steam, and everybody was left drenched and sitting in a small lake that had once been the Institute's front lawn. Kitty wailed and ran off to find the nearest bottle of conditioner to restore her now-ruined hairstyle. Beast was so soaked that he looked like a drowned animal; Kurt was similarly saturated. "Ack! Great game, but next time let's stick to something a little less messy, ja?" he requested before shaking himself off.  
  
Everybody glared angrily at Roberto, who gulped and soared away before Logan could slice his head off.  
  
Xavier spun his wheels, trying to get out of the mud. Finally, he resigned himself to being stuck and sighed, trying to calculate the size of the landscaping bill that lay in his future.  
  
Epilogue- The younger mutants collected on their prize that very weekend. Jean and the other mutants had had to spend several hundred dollars for tickets, food, and other souvenirs. Despite their financial downfall, most of the older mutants had a good time, especially Kurt, who had always wanted to see a hockey game live. Jean was the only one not enjoying herself. Not expecting the arena to be as cold as it had been, she had worn only a thin blouse to the game, and as a result the fans sitting nearby had spent as much time staring at her as they did watching the game. Jean spent most of her time shooting angry glances at people and trying to cover up as best she could. Finally, she got fed up with the eager stares and asked Scott if she could borrow the jersey he had bought. She slid it on, and the fans gradually went back to watching the game since there was now nothing else interesting to look at. Next to her, Bobby and the other mutants jumped out of their seats as the Rangers scored a goal. "Just wait until soccer season, Bobby!" she muttered. "Oh, I hate hockey!"  
  
Coming up next: Fed up of the Brotherhood's lack of cooperation, Pietro tries out a classic role-playing game where he is, naturally, the master. Will the other "slaves" rebel or just get bored? Tune in next time! 


End file.
